Friday, October 12, 2018

Fort Hunter Wrap-up and Archaeology Month Events

3rd in the 'berg at Fort Hunter 2018

The State Museum of Pennsylvania’s Section of Archaeology
wrapped up its annual public archaeology excavation this past Friday, October
the 5th. Despite this year’s overall soggy season, the program continues to be
successful in providing an opportunity for the public to observe an
archaeological dig up close, and to learn more about the historic and
prehistoric inhabitants that called what is now Fort Hunter Mansion and Park
home.

These students are shovel-ready!

Middle school and High school students, college
undergraduates as well as home-schooled individuals were introduced to modern survey
methods used to establish the site’s grid coordinate system, excavation
techniques using traditional hand tools such as spade shovels and mason’s
trowels, and the basics of artifact identification while screening soil.

Learning what to look for in the screen

Casual visitors to the park, not wishing to get their hands
dirty, were treated to a detailed history of the property as known from the
historical record and, how we have come to understand the site
archaeologically.

Attentive crowd during Fort Hunter Day

Avid followers of TWIPA will recall that our last post
contained somewhat of a cliff-hanger concerning a linear feature that had been
identified in two excavation units adjacent to the rear of the 1860’s addition
to the mansion. Tantalizing fragments of French and Indian War period ceramics
such as delft tin-glazed earthenware and scratch blue salt-glazed stoneware,
and a few pieces of lead swan shot stoked imaginations that the feature might be
associated with the fort’s stockade, or perhaps a ditch dug around the fort to
enhance its defenses. Such a recommendation had been noted in the historical
record in the form a letter:

“I was left in the Garrison of Fort Hunter, and received
Orders from Genl Forbes to repair it, and sent and Engineer to inspect into the condition, who
found necessary to Stockade it, for which purpose I was to get the Country
People; and accordingly apply’d to the several Justices of the Peace for the
Townships of Paxton and Donegal, which latter I never had any answer from, but
was inform’d by Parson Elder, of Paxton, whose word is the same wth
that of the Justices, as they act in conjunction in such affairs that till
harvest be over the Country People can do nothing; therefore thought propper to
acquaint you of this, as a duty incumbent, also that I am relieved, and that
should be the work of the fort be Pospon’d till harvest be over, ‘twill be yet
three weeks before they begin.

P.S.
– the Stockades are cut.”

Continued excavation of the suspect feature ultimately
revealed itself to be the trench for a clay sewer pipe, likely dating to the
second quarter of the 20th century with the arrival of modern
plumbing to the mansion. A pipe dream indeed, much to the crew’s dismay. One
silver lining of the deflating discovery late in the dig, is that it at
least spares us the next eleven months of speculation about the feature’s
origin.

trench feature visible in cross-section and clay sewer pipe

With the field season quickly drawing to a close, final
levels were completed in the excavation block and then each profile, or wall,
of the individual units was photographed and carefully hand mapped on graph
paper to scale in order to record their stratigraphic sequence.

measuring and mapping profiles in unit with pvc drain pipe

The site was then “put to bed” by lining the walls and
floors of each unit in the excavation block with heavy black plastic and
weighted down with stone. The Fort Hunter ground crew has it all backfilled for the safety of the park visitors during the
rest of the year.

overview of 2018 excavation block, looking West

The saying goes “you just can’t find good help these days”.
In our case we have found good help,
in the form of our dedicated volunteers. We can’t emphasize enough, the amount
of work completed would not have been possible, nor as enjoyable without you, and
we thank all of you for your
enthusiasm and hard work!

Looking forward to more Archaeology Month events happening
soon, Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village is hosting Archaeology Day
tomorrow, Oct. 13th from 11AM to 5PM. Be sure to check their website
for details.

Thursday, October 25th from 10AM to 1PM the
Independence National Historic Park in Philadelphia will host a workshop on
historic ceramic identification and its importance to archaeologists. More
information can be found by clicking here.

And finally, just two weeks away, The State Museum of
Pennsylvania will host the 2018 Annual Workshops in Archaeology series on
Saturday, October 27 from 8:30AM to 6PM. This year’s topic, the culture history
of the Susquehannock Indians from an archaeological context, will be explored
in detail by nine 30-minute presentations throughout the day followed by a
question and discussion forum, and concluding with light refreshments. Additional
programming includes a flint knapping demonstration, artifact identification,
and instruction on recording sites with the State Historic Preservation Office’s
Cultural Resource Geographic Information System.

Early registration discount ends Oct. 19th. Program
abstracts and registration form can be found here.

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One Tank Trip

WFMZ-TV 69 from Reading, Pennsylvania visited The State Museum of Pennsylvania on February 8th, 2017. Karin Mallett prepared a feature piece on great places to visit that are one tank of gas from Reading and our gallery was the focus of this visit. Karin interviewed Kurt Carr, Senior Curator and Janet Johnson in the gallery and provide a nice overview of the spectacular exhibits. Please click on the link below and enjoy this glimpse of the museum during this One Tank Trip!
One Tank Trip: Hall of Anthropology and Archaeology

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